Star Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros has been deeply entrenched in trade rumors for much of the season, largely thanks to the emergence of top goalie prospect Yaroslav Askarov in the minor leagues. But the two sides might not be set for the departure many are expecting, with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman sharing that, “the player wants to stay and the team wants him to say,” in the latest episode of the 32 Thoughts Podcast. Friedman added that a source close to the team has expressed optimism in Nashville’s chances of extending Saros.
Saros has one year remaining on the four-year, $20MM contract he earned following a breakout 2020-21 season. Manning the net in the last year of Pekka Rinne’s career, Saros posted 21 wins and a .927 save percentage through just 36 appearances. Saros has fully taken the reigns from Rinne on his new deal, recording at least 64 games in each of the three seasons he’s played on the deal so far. He’s posted a combined 106 wins and .915 save percentage in 195 games since 2021. Saros has remained an unquestioned starter in Nashville, even as he posted a career-worst .906 save percentage and 2.86 goals-against-average in 64 games this season.
But despite the strong stats, Nashville has shared they’re not in a rush to re-sign the former Vezina Trophy finalist. Instead, they’ll monitor how the goalie market develops under a growing cap, specifically watching for how extension talks between the New York Rangers and Igor Shesterkin play out. That patient approach should give time for trade candidates like Jacob Markstrom, John Gibson, and Linus Ullmark to be moved as well, giving the Predators a sense of what a return for Saros may look like.
Other notes from around the league:
- The Washington Capitals have moved to purchase the website CapFriendly, per Friedman. CapFriendly has become a central repository for information on NHL player and staff contracts, fantasy hockey tools, and lineup information among many other uses. The move will give Washington full access to CapFriendly’s extensive toolkit, though it will also force the site to publicly shut down on July 5th – keeping it active through the NHL Draft and beginning of free agency. Friedman shared that other NHL teams who had access to CapFriendly’s data were recently told their contracts would be termminated, suggesting a buyout was imminent.
- Winnipeg Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon is expected to test free agency, shares Friedman in 32 Thoughts. Dillon concluded his third year with the Jets this season, joining the team via trade in 2021 – with Winnipeg sending the Washington Capitals the draft picks used to select Seamus Casey and Carson Rehkopf, though neither player was drafted by Washington. Dillon, 33, will be looking for a new home after recording 63 points across 238 games with the Jets.
A team purchasing cap friendly just to
Shut it down to the competition is a crazy tactic
Seems like some clubs might sue to get their data back.
capsfriendly then
CapFriendly is shutting down?!?…Where are reporters/fans going to go for this type of cap & salary information of teams now?…I’m surprised this acquisition isn’t even being allowed. This is B.S.
puckpedia
Why wouldn’t it be allowed? This isn’t Russia, after all.
Because the intention behind the purchase is suspicious. Actually, it brings suspicion on the Washington Capitals of their internal workings. Why are they against having their team information shared on their cap & salary situations (that was part of the reason for the purchase) when no other team has an issue?…What’s next to buy Spotrac & Puckpedia?…This is a strange & unusual purchase from a professional team that comes across rather peculiar.
As for your Russia comment, we’ll be there if we keep going the way this country is going right now but I digress.
And those things are all LEGAL. Of course the Caps have an ulterior motive to it all: their own benefit. That’s legal as well. Capfriendly is not a non-profit, nor yet a public charity, and neither are NHL teams.
Why are they against their team information being shared? I suspect that NO team’s enthusiastic about that information being shared — it wasn’t so very long ago that teams routinely declined to disclose contract terms or salaries — and do so only for cap reporting requirements. You could just as readily wonder why teams are so against divulging injury information other than vague “upper body injuries,” something that’s a relatively recent development.
This is UNACCEPTABLE!!!
No Cap Friendly, No Peace!!!
I demand regulators void this transaction!
As a Caps fan, I feel slightly dirty now…
Cash Friendly…no friendly
Hey you all, lets complain to them, goog Washington Capitals contact, there is a form, fill and complain
while I’d like to say I’m surprised The NHL didn’t just buy the site (like how MLB bought Fangraphs), with Gary at the helm, I am not
@MoneyBallJustWorks — It does seem like opportunity missed for the NHL. Marek and Elliotte were discussing this today, and it probably would have been better for us to have the NHL acquire it.
MLB bought FanGraphs, huh?
Gave you a like for the name as another person of a “Certain Age”
Baseball teams already have fully developed analytics departments making such a move unnecessary
If I need a goalie, I don’t mess around with Markstrom, Ullmark, Gibson, etc.
I call Trotz and find out which of these goalies he really wants to keep by making a strong offer for Askarov. If he says no, make a strong offer for Saros.
Capfriendly’s immediate spiritual predecessor, Generalfanager, was also bought out by an NHL team (VGK), so this has happened before. Capfriendly then stepped in. Generalfanager itself had taken over the market from Capgeek, which shut down because of the founder’s terminal illness. Sad to lose capfriendly, but another will rise.
This looks like an evolution of the NHL’s long standing policy of secrecy that includes not publicly reporting injury data beyond upper/lower body not listing lines until just before game time, etc.
Data is power in sports. This move will e mirrored by other teams being forced to develop and expand their own data analysis dept. What the Caps have done with this first salvo is acquired a ready made fully developed department for their use. What was not made clear was whether the canceling of team contracts happens at the end of the year or the same time as the public shutdown